Great stuff. Years ago, the Ruttan brothers made aviation history when they flew a plane of their design around the globe without once needing to re-fuel, and this solar powered flight record is another milestone for the history books.

As the technology to harness and store the sun's energy evolves, future generations will no doubt look back at today's fossil-fuel reliant propulsion systems with amusement about the quaintness of the concept.

As the technology to harness and store the sun's energy evolves, future generations will no doubt look back at today's fossil-fuel reliant propulsion systems with amusement about the quaintness of the concept.

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As long as future generations don't have the need to actually carry a useful payload this statement will no doubt be true.

"Its creators say the Solar Impulse is designed to showcase the potential of solar power and will never replace fuel-powered commercial flights. The delicate, single-seat plane cruises around 40 miles per hour and can't fly through clouds.
"The more you fly the more energy you have stored in the batteries, so it's absolutely fabulous to imagine all the possibilities the people can have with these technologies in their daily lives," said Bertrand Piccard, Solar Impulse co-founder and chairman."

That plane is great for photo-ops, but sooner or later...the "Usefulness" factor will have to kick in.

That plane is great for photo-ops, but sooner or later...the "Usefulness" factor will have to kick in.

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Granted that solar powered airliners will most likely remain in the realm of science fiction for the balance of our lifetimes, a solar powered UAV could be an immediate offshoot of this technology, permitting the bird to stay aloft almost indefinitely in furtherance of its mission, so at least for that scaled-down application, useful payloads can potentially be deployed right away, or in the very near future.

I see solar power advancing then working with other forms of power. We have all these hybrid cars, why not put solar panels on the roof. So if it sits a couple days it autocharges. Or you get a couple more miles per gallon from the solar power. I don't think solar alone will be able to do much but I do see it working with other fuel sources and doing good.

I see solar power advancing then working with other forms of power. We have all these hybrid cars, why not put solar panels on the roof. So if it sits a couple days it autocharges. Or you get a couple more miles per gallon from the solar power. I don't think solar alone will be able to do much but I do see it working with other fuel sources and doing good.

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Not enough surface area per weight ratio. Simply not worth the cost of the panels. Fuel is simply too cheap. We either need to vastly reduce the weight of the vehicle and / or its occupants (have you seen Americans lately ) or have an extreme break through in solar panel technology to make it worth it.

A better solution is to use kinetic energy to charge the batteries which is used on many hybrids.

Granted that solar powered airliners will most likely remain in the realm of science fiction for the balance of our lifetimes, a solar powered UAV could be an immediate offshoot of this technology, permitting the bird to stay aloft almost indefinitely in furtherance of its mission, so at least for that scaled-down application, useful payloads can potentially be deployed right away, or in the very near future.